Gilmore Games
by ABunchOfMellarky
Summary: When her little sister gets into one of the best prep schools in the country, Katniss will do whatever it takes to make sure she can afford to go. In the meantime, her life is bringing changes as well in the form of a mysterious new blond boy in town. An Everlark story set in the world of Stars Hollow Connecticut.Written for the "Other Worlds" day of Prompts in Panem's AU Week.


**Gilmore Games**

The slamming of ceramic followed by a surly grunt awoke Katniss from her peaceful slumber. When she opened her eyes she met the sight of a steaming stream of heavenly dark brown liquid pouring into the oversized light blue mug in front of her.

"Back in my day kids weren't allowed drink coffee until they went off to college."

"Kids aren't allowed to drink vodka until they're 21 but I doubt that stopped you," Katniss quipped back to the misanthropic flannel ridden man in front of her. Haymitch Abernathy had owned the only diner in town for years. Business always seemed to go well for him, no thanks to his sunny personality. Katniss supposed it all had to do with the quality of the coffee. "You know if you washed your hair once in a while you wouldn't have to wear that stupid hat all the time."

Haymitch simply grunted in response and walked away, murmuring under his breath as he went. "Wicked Witch…"

"Holden Caulfield…"

By the time Haymitch had made it back behind the counter, the aroma of the coffee in front of her had made it all the way through Katniss' nose into the deep recesses of her heart. As she drank, she could feel her body start to become more alert with every sip. She was almost half way through when the bell above the door rang and a familiar head of blonde hair walked in the door.

"I'm so tired!" The blonde girl said as she dropped her book bag on the floor and pulled up a chair across from her older sister. "Do you think Haymitch would serve me coffee?" she asked.

Katniss turned around to get a look at the diner owner who was currently glaring at someone as he gave him a particularly detailed order. "I doubt it," she said. "He gets grumpy about serving me and I'm five years older than you, little duck."

"Haymitch is old fashioned." Prim explained sweetly with a gentle shrug of her shoulders.

The girls did not have to discuss it much longer, as approximately thirty seconds after Prim walked through the door, Haymitch was at the table dropping a glass of milk and half of a grapefruit in front of her. Prim looked at the glass and then back up at Haymitch.

"Could I at least get some chocolate syrup?" she asked.

"No."

"Not even to celebrate me getting into Chilton?" Prim asked. Katniss smiled at turned to look at Haymitch. She could see his face slowly giving into Prim's request. Even Haymitch could not resist being happy for Prim. Everyone in town was over the moon about the young girl getting into one of the best prep schools in the country. She was one step closer to Harvard medical school, the only school she had ever talked about since her first career day in elementary school.

He silently turned around and walked behind the counter, grabbing a bottle of chocolate syrup and placing it in front of the young girl who giddily poured it into her glass of milk.

Haymitch turned around to walk away again, but hesitated for a moment, trepidatiously turning his body back and forth between the girls and the kitchen while Katniss and Prim watched with bewildered looks on their face. Haymitch finally stopped and resolutely turned to face Katniss.

"You're seventeen right?" he asked. Katniss darted her gaze from the greasy surly diner owner back to her sister in complete and utter confusion. Haymitch was not one to care about the details of anyone's life, let alone participate in mundane small talk with a teenaged girl.

"Yes…"

"So you're what…a senior in high school?" He asked.

"Yes." Katniss responded. "Why?"

Haymitch was silent for a few moments.

"No reason."

* * *

Katniss stared down at the letter in her hand with disbelief. She had long ago taken to opening her mother's mail. The first time their power had been turned off because Violet had forgotten to pay the bill, Katniss realized that she was going to have to take a lot more responsibility that the average pre-teen girl should. Ever since then she had been practically raising her younger sister, working over time as a maid at the Independence Inn in an effort to generate some more income to supplement her mother's nursing salary. She didn't want Prim to have to get a part-time job when she turned sixteen. She needed to study. She needed to get into Harvard. But if this letter meant anything, it meant that her little sister's hopes of going to an Ivy League university were just squashed.

"Yes! Hi! Hello!" Katniss squeaked as she was forced back into reality by the sound of another voice on the other end of the phone. "This is….this is Violet Gilmore. I'm calling about my daughter Prim."

Katniss winced after she spoke the words, hoping that her voice wouldn't show her age. There was a pause on the other end of the phone and Katniss could hear the sound of finger tips touching a keyboard. When the voice on the other end spoke again, it was to tell her that there was no record of a Prim Gilmore in their computer system.

"Prim… Primrose Everdeen I mean… Yeah well it's this thing called divorce it's pretty common nowadays. Don't know if you've heard of it... I'm sorry. I just… I just got a letter saying that a tuition payment needs to made on Monday and _wow _that's a lot of zeros behind that one… I was just wondering if there was any way that we could work out a payment arrangement and pay it over a period of time…Well I just don't know where I can get that kind of money at a moment's notice…No! No! You can't give up her spot. I'll just…I'll just have to figure something out… Thank you for your time… Okay, bye."

Katniss took a moment to breath before tossing the phone across the room.

* * *

"Even if I could give you an extra shift this weekend, which I can't, an extra shift this weekend is not going to help you earn ten thousand dollars by Monday, brainless. I don't know what to you want me to do," Katniss' boss said as Katniss chased her around the lobby of the inn.

"I know but I -"

"Independence Inn, this is Johanna speaking how may I help you?" Johanna asked as she ignored Katniss' pleading and answered the ringing telephone. Katniss bit her lip and started bouncing in anticipation. "No I'm sorry we're completely booked. Have a good day."

"I just need - " Katniss said after Johanna placed the phone back on the receiver.

"There is nothing I can do to help you right now Katniss. When there is I will let you know. And shouldn't you be working? Why must you insist on being the most insufferable employee that I have ever hired?"

"I'm on break…" Katniss explained.

"Then go eat something!" Johanna said. "Just find someone else to bother."

Katniss hung her head and walked through the swivel door to the kitchen. She was instantly met with the smell of fish. She curled her nose and walked over to a tray of cookies, taking a snicker doodle and popping it into her mouth, hoping that something sweet would lift her spirits if just for a brief second.

"I asked for salmon!" She heard Annie yell. Annie was the brand new chef at the Inn, and she always seemed to have a hard time getting along with their fish supplier. She was unlike most people in this respect, as he was unused to his handsome face and charming smile not doing much to curb the disappointment of the chefs that he worked with. Annie had threatened to fire him on more than one occasion. However, his contract with the Inn was getting in the way. Katniss turned around, thinking that seeing another argument would at least be somewhat entertaining.

"And I brought you cod!" he said, a small trace of a laugh behind his voice.

"How am I supposed to make salmon puffs with cod, Finnick?!"

"Don't!" he answered. "Make fish and chips! It was substandard salmon. Why would you serve bad salmon when you can serve _amazing _fish and chips?"

"Because you can't serve _fish and chips _to the Daughters of the American Revolution!"

Katniss did laugh at that. The image of the most stuck up members of society being handed a basket of greasy fish wrapped in paper had done enough to amuse her for a moment.

"I don't understand why you're so angry at me. I have your best interests in mind. You should be thanking me," Finnick said, flashing his trademark smile. Katniss smiled in amusement as Annie began to fume. She poked a wooden spoon into his chest, causing him to rub the area that would probably bruise.

"The next time I see you, you better be carrying so much salmon that you have to stuff some down your pants!" she said through clenched teeth.

"Only if you reach down and get it."

"Get out of my kitchen!"

"Anne…" Finnick said in mock surprise as she shoved him out the back door.

"Out! Get out!" Annie turned around and wiped her hands on her apron and took a moment to gather herself. Once she had, she looked at Katniss with a huge smile on her face.

"Hi, sweetie!" she said. Although her smile quickly turned into a frown as she noticed the look on Katniss' face. "What's wrong? Why so glum? Are you sad? Have more cookies!"

Katniss cracked a small smile at that. Annie was of the creed that anything could be solved with something delicious. Her solution to Katniss' slump after Gale went away to school was to bake her an entire cheesecake.

"Thanks," Katniss said. "But I don't think cookies are going to help much."

"What's wrong?" Annie asked again, placing her hands on Katniss' shoulders.

"We have to pay ten thousand dollars worth of tuition by Monday or Prim will lose her spot at Chilton."

"Oh no! She can't lose her spot! Is there anything you can do? Do you have a car? You could sell your car!"

"I don't think my car is worth ten dollars," Katniss scoffed. "And my mom needs hers to drive to work everyday."

"Have you talked to your mom?" Annie asked. "You could get a loan. Or-"

"No bank would give my mom a loan," Katniss said.

Annie bridged the gap between them and gave her a hug. "I'm so sorry, sweetie. You can have all the cookies you want. And bring some home for Prim."

"Thanks Annie."

"Wait a minute…" Annie said as she broke away. "Didn't you say that your-"

"No."

"But-"

"That's not an option."

* * *

The problem was that Katniss did not know what other choice she had. There was no way that she was going to be able to make that find that kind of money herself in such a short amount of time. Even if she could somehow manage to convince a bank to give her a loan, it was way too late to even try.

Struck with the reality of what she knew that she had to do, she made up her mind to go to Haymitch's for a cup of coffee. The cookies might not have been able to lift her spirits but some caffeine might.

As she walked through the town square, she noticed something not quite right through the windows of the diner. Inside a young man with a head of blond hair was carrying around a coffee pot and taking orders. She looked for a sign of a backwards baseball cap and a flannel shirt but there was none to be found. Haymitch was not there, and in his place was a strange young man that she had never seen before.

Suddenly, she was overcome with the smallest feeling of panic. This entire year had been full of one derailment of her life after another. First Gale had gone to school in Colorado. Now Prim was leaving going to go to Chilton and she would not have the time in the mornings or evenings to spend being with Katniss. And now Haymitch's was changing. Haymitch's diner had always remained the one steady presence in her life.

While she was watching the mysterious young man walking about in the diner, he must have felt the presence of her eyes upon him. He stopped listening as he was taking an order from Sae and looked up at the window, furrowing his brow when he noticed Katniss was staring at him. He then raised his hand and waved to her.

Katniss continued walking down the street. Now that she thought about it, Westin's coffee seemed much more appetizing.

* * *

As mush as she hated to admit it to herself, she knew what she had to do about Prim. She had known what she had to do from the moment that she had opened that letter. However, she was not going to admit to having to do it until she had exhausted every last possible option, as trivial as most of them were.

Her mother's solution was to simply give up hope. Violet Gilmore saw no reason why Prim had to attend Chilton at all, let alone Harvard. But Katniss only wanted the best for her little sister. There was one person in her family with enough intelligence and ambition to actually make something of her life, and Katniss was going to do everything she possibly could to see to it that it happened. She might end up spending the rest of her life living in Stars Hollow and working at the Independence Inn, but Prim could get out.

It was for that reason and that reason alone that Katniss found herself standing in front of the imposing solid oak door in front of her. It had taken nearly fifteen minutes for her to get her feet to take her this far. Now she just had to build up the courage to actually ring the doorbell. It was proving more difficult than she had originally planned. However, one thought of Prim dressed in a blue plaid Chilton skirt was all it took for her to finally lift her arm and press the button.

The wait that occurred after the bell had been rung was one of the most agonizing minutes she had ever spent. And when the door opened to reveal the sight of tightly curled blonde hair and a hot pink wrap dress, Katniss' only relief was to cross her arms over her chest and hug herself.

"Katniss," the squeaky voice of the woman in front of her chirped.

"Effie." Katniss whispered, making eye contact with the potted rose bush to her right.

"Well!" Effie exclaimed. "What a pleasant surprise! Come in! Come in! You'll catch your death of cold out there. You should really wear a suitable coat in weather like this, you know," she said as she began to peel the tattered khaki corduroy jacket off of Katniss' shoulders and hanging it up in the coat closet just across the extravagant foyer.

"I left my fur in the other closet…" Katniss mumbled.

"Tom! We have a guest!" Effie called, ushering Katniss over the giant Persian rug beneath their feet and into the formal sitting room. Effie sat down in a salmon pink colored claw foot wingback chair that looked as though it had never been sat in in its probable two-hundred years of existence, and gestured to the mahogany trimmed love seat next to her. Katniss took one look at the impeccable fabric and instantly felt nervous about sitting on it. She wracked her brain trying to remember if she had done anything that day that would have left her jeans particularly dirty.

"Sit! Sit, Katniss!" Effie finally said, forcing Katniss to bite the bullet and sit. Instantly she wondered how people could ever enjoy furniture like this.

"Can I get you something to drink? Gerta!" Effie yelled, calling to the maid of the week. "Could you bring Katniss and I some lemonade?"

"I'm not really thirsty."

"Nonsense. This lemonade is to die for," Effie said, crossing her legs and folding her hands over her knee. The smile on her face looked as though it was about to split her head in two, and Katniss had to force herself not to roll her eyes at the phoniness of it all. She doubted very much that Effie appreciated having unexpected guests, let alone her.

"So, Katniss, what brings you all the way to Hartford?" Effie asked.

"Um… I…" Katniss, thankfully, was not able to finish her sentence as she was interrupted by a deep familiar voice.

"What is it Effie? I'm terribly bus – Katniss!"

Katniss closed her eyes to compose herself for a moment before turning around in her seat to face the man who had just arrived in the room. As she took in the sight of him, she noticed that he was cleaning a pair of glasses that she had never seen before and that his hair had begun to sprout grey strands around his temples.

It had been so long since she had seen him, she had not taken the time to think that he may have aged. Almost a year had passed since she had physically been in his presence, preferring to keep their reaction to nothing more than awkward phone calls. However, now she did not have a choice. If Prim was going to Chilton, she was going to have to destroy her hopes of only ever seeing this man on Christmas and at funerals.

"Hi, Dad."

Thomas Everdeen walked over to his youngest daughter, placing a kiss on top of her head. He then sat down in a chair next to his young wife and placed his new glasses back on the bridge of his nose.

"Well this is certainly a surprise. What brings you over here?"

"I actually needed to talk to you," she answered. She could not bare to make eye contact with him and instead began to pick at her fingernails. "I need your help with something."

"You need my help?" Tom asked. He glanced over at Effie whose fake smile only grew another inch and then back to Katniss.

"Yes," she said as she stopped picking her nails and started running her hand over the textured fabric of the loveseat in which she sat. It felt nice on her skin and was a welcome distraction from the hell that she knew she was about to endure.

"You need money."

"Prim got into Chilton," she said, eliciting no reaction from her father. Effie however, sat forward in her chair with a delighted look on her face.

"Chilton!" she exclaimed. "Oh Tom, that's a wonderful school! You should be so proud!"

"Yes. Very," Tom agreed. "Although that doesn't explain why you're here, Katniss."

Katniss cleared her throat. "Well… Chilton is a great school. And…you know Prim wants to go to Harvard… It's her dream."

Tom nodded. "Yes, I'm very aware of Primrose's ambitions."

"Well….the thing is that… Chilton, as you know, is rather expensive…"

"You need money," Tom interrupted.

"And they um….they want a payment on her tuition by Monday or they're going to give up her spot."

"You need money."

Katniss swallowed a growl. "Ten thousand dollars," she said, finally, meeting her father's eyes in defiance. "But its not for me! It's for Prim. Remember Prim? The good daughter. The daughter you like?"

Tom Everdeen ignored that comment from his eldest child and leaned forward in his chair. He looked Katniss up and down, placed his elbows on his knees, and folded his hands together, resting his chin against them. Katniss' heart started beating fast and she looked up at the ceiling, trying to keep the tears from stinging in the back of her eyes. It would be just like him to make her beg.

"We can pay you back-"

"Have you talked to your mother about this?"

"Mom doesn't know I'm here," Katniss answered. "But, I'm graduating school in May and I can get a full time job at the Inn. If I live with Mom then I won't have to pay rent and I'll be able to pay you back, with interest, within a few years…"

Tom didn't seem any more convinced. Luckily, for the first time in her entire life, Effie came to her defense. The tiny pale woman reached out a hand and patted Tom's forearm. She gave Katniss a smile and rose from her chair. "I'll get the checkbook!" she said.

"Not so fast, Effie!" Tom said. Effie sighed and Katniss started shaking her head.

"Are you seriously about to deny your own daughter the opportunity to get into one of the best prep schools in the country? Because that's a low blow, Dad, even for you," Katniss said.

Tom looked started. "Of course not!" He answered. "But I have some conditions first."

Katniss slammed into the back of the couch. This is what she had been fearing the moment that she walked into the door. Nothing ever came without strings with these people. If she had any hope of sending Prim to Chilton, she was going to pay for it with her life, sanity, and pride.

"What are your conditions?"

"First…" Tom began, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms over his chest. "If you insist upon paying me back, which I assume you do…"

"Yes!" Katniss insisted, refusing to be his charity case.

"I want you to take as long as you need. You're not going to be able to make much money fast considering that you'll be applying to college."

"But I'm not-"

"That's a condition, Katniss," Tom said. "And its nonnegotiable. Secondly, no interest. Ten thousand dollars is enough of a financial burden."

"And how am I going to pay for my own student loans?!" Katniss asked, trying desperately not to raise her voice.

"We can work out an arrangement for that too."

"Fine," Katniss spit. "But I'm going to a community college. Two years. That's it," she slapped her hands on her thighs and stood up. "Thanks for your time." She had taken a step toward the foyer when her father's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"I'm not done." he said. Katniss slowly turned around. "Since I'm going to be financially involved in your life…I want to be actively involved in your life."

"What does that mean?" Katniss asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I want you and Prim to come here every Friday night for dinner with me and your step-mother."

The blow that Katniss had been waiting for was finally here. This was how she was going to end up paying. She could live with having to send a check to her father every month for the next foreseeable years of her life. She could live with never being able to escape form the reality of _owing _him. But she couldn't stand the idea of having to do the one thing that she swore she would never do the moment he walked out of the door. She never wanted to have to let him back into her life in any real way. She never wanted to see him more than was absolutely necessary. The one thing that he hadn't taken from her was her pride. And now he was.

"Fine."

This time when she started to walk away, she didn't stop, not even to collect her coat that was still hanging in the closet. Effie could go ahead and burn it.

* * *

When she walked into Haymitch's there was no one to be found. The lights were dim, signifying that they were closed. However, the door was wide open. She took a seat at the counter and waited for about two minutes for Haymitch to come stumbling out of the kitchen. But the longer she waited the more impatient became. Finally having enough, Katniss got up and started walking behind the counter herself. She found a mug and started pouring herself a steaming mug of coffee.

"Hey you can't do that!" The unexpected exclamation startled Katniss to the point where she was happy that she hadn't dropped the pitcher of coffee and shattered it on the tile floor. The strange blond employee had caught her in the act and he did not seem like he appreciated her presence. In fact he seemed scared.

"Relax, blondie. I'm just getting coffee," she mumbled, not wanting to have to deal with this person who did not know the ins and outs of living in this town.

"You can't serve yourself coffee!" he insisted. "You don't work here! How did you even get in? We're closed!"

"You know if you're closing for the night, it might help to lock the door," Katniss explained as she walked around the counter and took another seat next to a case of donuts. The blond remained on the other side and the look on his face was one of pure petrification.

"I forgot to lock the door…." he said.

"Good job, genius," Katniss said in reply.

"You still can't-"

"Relax!" Katniss said. "Haymitch and me go way back. He won't be angry about a cup of coffee…and a donut." She lifted the glass lid on the case of donuts in front of her and took one, taking a bite and instantly spitting it back into a napkin. "These are stale."

"How do you know Haymitch?" the blond asked.

Katniss just chuckled and shook her head. "Take a look around," she said, gesturing to the windows all around them. "You can see the entire town from this diner. I've known Haymitch since I was born. This is the _only _diner in town. If I don't get coffee here I go to the _only _bakery in town. I work at the _only _Inn in town and I've gone to school with the same twenty people my entire life at the _only_ school in town. Everyone knows everyone. Also he was sleeping with my mom for a while."

"What?!"

Katniss laughed again. "You really are excitable aren't you?" She took a sip of coffee and closed her eyes as she felt the warm liquid course through her, helping just a little bit to erase her horrible day. When she opened her eyes he was still watching her with an uneasy look on his face.

"So what's your name?" she asked.

"Peeta," the boy across from her answered. "What's yours?"

"Katniss," she said. "What's your deal, Peter? What brings you to Stars Hollow?"

"It's Peeta," he corrected. "And its complicated."

Katniss nodded. "Isn't everything?" she said softly. Peeta didn't respond, as there was something in her voice that told him she wasn't really asking him a question. She took a another sip of coffee.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Other than being completely starving you mean?" she asked. "Could I get a cheeseburger?"

"I can't make you food," he said. "You have a hard time grasping the concept of closed."

"Cheeseburger Nazi," Katniss mumbled. An awkward silence settled between them. Katniss finished off her coffee and watched as Peeta looked at her with a concerned eye. Katniss had a hard time accepting sympathy from the people she knew. Getting it from strangers was enough to make her livid.

"Stop looking at me like that," she said.

"Like what?"

"Like I'm some three-legged puppy."

"I'm sorry," Peeta said. "You just seem upset about something."

Katniss took a deep breath and drummed her fingers on the counter. She looked out the window into the dark streets and saw Delly and Madge walking down the street, talking about something excitedly. She couldn't help but wonder how long it would be until everyone knew that she had degraded herself by begging her father for money.

Soon everyone would take pity on her. She would be the town charity case. People would slip her money to help pay her father back, and if they didn't do that they would give her a look every time they saw her – a look that screamed of how sorry they felt for her and how proud they were that she cared so much about her sister. She didn't need it to start now.

"Well I had a shitty day," she said.

"If it makes you feel any better…" Peeta said. "I've had a pretty shitty year."

"It doesn't." she replied. Katniss drank and Peeta watched her. To say that his interest in the ingestion of her coffee unnerved her was an understatement. "Who are you? Why are you working in Haymitch's diner? And why are you refusing to serve me food?"

"He's my uncle," Peeta answered. "My Mom kicked me out of the house. He's letting me stay with him. And, as I told you before, we're closed."

Katniss was not expecting that. She made eye contact with him and noticed something familiar behind his piercing blue eyes. He didn't want her to feel sorry for him either.

"Your Mom sounds like a fuckwad," she said.

He looked startled for a second and she was afraid that he might be angry with her. But instead he simply nodded and walked into the kitchen. Katniss thought she had insulted him, which was never a good thing in Stars Hollow. Avoiding people was not an easy feat in a town as small as this. Her perception changed, however, when he came back out, carrying a small plate that he set down in front of her. On top of it was a single roll.

"It's not warm or anything," he said.

Katniss picked up the small piece of bread and broke into it. When she placed it on her tongue, it seemed to melt. It didn't exactly make up for a skipped dinner, but it did stop her stomach from growling.

"Thanks."

* * *

"I don't understand what we're doing here, Katniss." Prim said as they stood in front of her father's imposing white brick home. Katniss took one look at her run down Ford Taurus and started to worry about the large possibility that it would leave an oil stain on the impeccable brick driveway.

"We're visiting Dad and Effie," Katniss answered, crossing her arms and rubbing her hands up and down her forearms for heat.

"You hate Dad and Effie," Prim replied. "Where's your coat?"

"I left it at home," she lied. Prim was dressed to the nines, wearing a cute little red pea coat over a light blue dress that brought out her eyes. Katniss had managed to put some effort into what she wore as well, not because she cared, but rather because she didn't want to have to face Effie's scrutiny. She borrowed a red wrap dress from Madge and stole a pair of black heels from her mother's closet.

"Is there any reason why we aren't ringing the doorbell?" Prim asked.

"You don't want me to tell you a story first? Recite a poem? Sing a song about beer and walls?"

"Katniss, what's going on?" Prim asked. "Why are we coming here if you don't want to be here?"

"Nothing's going on," she lied. "Just ring the doorbell."

It took about two seconds from the time that they rang the doorbell for a frightened looking maid with red hair to answer the door.

"Hi, I'm Katniss and this is Prim," Katniss said to her as the maid took her little sister's coat. "Eva and Adolf are expecting us."

The young ginger woman's eyes went wide at this and she scurried away in complete and utter silence, taking Prim's coat with her.

"We'll show ourselves to the living room I guess…" Katniss called after her. She shook her head and lead Prim into the formal living room where they found Effie reading a book with a mass of brown hair on top of her head.

"Katniss! Prim!" She said, beaming as she saw them. She got up and gave each of them a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Effie…" Katniss said, wiping what she feared was a permanent lipstick mark off of herself. "You're a brunette…"

"Oh yes…" Effie responded, scrunching her brown curls together. "I did it this afternoon. I think I'll change it back. Or go red instead. I haven't decided. Sit! Sit! Your father should be down any minute." Effie walked over to the bar cart and poured the girls two glasses of water while getting herself some wine.

"My my, Prim. Don't you look lovely tonight," Effie said. "As pretty as a picture." Katniss scoffed and eyed Effie's wine.

"Thank you," Prim said sweetly. "Daddy!" she exclaimed as Tom walked down the stairs and into the living room.

"There's my princess! How is it you get more beautiful every time I see you?" he said, scooping her up in a big hug. After a few seconds he let go and Prim returned to her seat. Tom sat down as well, nodding a greeting to Katniss as he did.

"Katniss."

"Dad."

"I have a little something for you, Prim," Tom said, reaching into his coat pocket and taking out a small black box. He handed it to his daughter and Prim took it with a huge smile on her face. She was beaming as she pulled out a silver chain with a single sapphire encased in silver dangling on the end.

"Sapphire is your birthstone," Tom said as he walked over and put it around the young girl's neck. "And it will go perfectly with your uniform."

"We spent all evening yesterday picking it out," Effie added. "Your father was insistent that you have the very best!"

"We're very proud of you, Prim."

Prim looked shocked and awed as she rolled the precious stone around in her fingers. "Isn't is pretty Katniss?" she asked.

Katniss forced a smile, trying her hardest not to think about the fact that she had never received such a gift from her father. "Not as pretty as you, little duck." She forced a tight lipped smile and sat back in her chair. She got the distinct indication that neither her father nor her step-mother were very interested in speaking to her, and she amused herself by swirling around the ice cubes in her glass.

By the time they had made it to the main course, Katniss had already thought of about ten different ways that she could kill her father, Effie, and herself using only the utensils that she had sitting in front of her at the table. Unfortunately, due to the fact that she tried to be a law abiding citizen and could not justify putting her kind hearted baby sister through such a traumatic experience, she had to continue to sit here and pretend to give a shit about whatever it was that Effie was droning on about.

Tonight, Effie seemed to be extremely upset by the new remodeling of the ladies rest room at the Country Club and insisted that she and her designer Cinna could have done a fabulous job themselves. Instead, the Country Club had given the job to an inexperienced designer who was not familiar with the tastes of the ladies who frequented the establishment and had done nothing but disappoint.

"How are you enjoying your steak, Katniss?" Effie asked, suddenly changing the subject. Katniss was forced to stop moving her food around the plate and look into the eyes of her step-mother.

"It's very good," she said simply, lifting another bite into her mouth.

"Your father and I found a _wonderful _new meat supplier," Effie said. "We'd been buying our streaks at the local grocery store for so long, and even with our _fantastic_ cook they just never tasted as good as when we'd go out. So I started looking around into some free range meat suppliers in the area. We tried a few and finally settled on this wonderful little butcher shop. I forgot the name of it…" Effie tapped her finger on her chin, "Hawkins and Sons…I'd have to look at the box…"

"Hawthorne…" Katniss corrected.

"Hawthorne!" Effie exclaimed. "Yes, that's it! How on earth did you know?"

"They're in Stars Hollow," she answered, sending a glare over at her father, who obviously knew that he was supporting one of his oldest friend's business, but had neglected to mention the fact to his wife.

"Oh!" Effie said. "Well you'd know all about that then. We'll they're just wonderful. I'll have to make it over there in person some time. Although, no matter where we got the steaks they would have been better than what your Father wanted to serve for dinner!" she said with a laugh.

"What did you want to serve, Dad?" Prim asked. Tom cleared his throat and wiped his mouth with a napkin. Effie answered for him.

"Venison!" she exclaimed with a laugh. "He wanted me to make you girls eat some deer he'd dragged home from the woods. I simply would not hear of it."

Katniss met Tom's eyes for a second. He tried to give her a small smile, but she quickly lowered her eyes back to the steak on her plate. Leaving fork imprints in her mashed potatoes had suddenly become utterly fascinating.

"You know he likes to hunt," Effie continued. "He took my nephew, Cato out last weekend to his Father's cabin up north and the two of them brought home a deer. I was appalled, but they seemed to have a good time. Tom said Cato was the best hunting partner he'd ever had."

"Excuse me," Katniss said, pushing her chair back so it scraped across the hardwood floor. "I need some more water."

"Your glass is full…" Prim said softly as Katniss walked through the white swivel door into the kitchen.

As she stormed inside, she was met once again with the presence of the silent red-headed maid, who jumped in shock to see her there. "Hey, how's it going?" she asked the scared young woman and walked over to the sink where there was a pile of dishes waiting to be scrubbed. She reached into the basin, grabbed a sponge and started furiously cleaning. She was not able to do this for longer than a minute, as her father followed her inside almost immediately.

"You've insulted Effie," he said simply. Katniss scoffed and did not even deign to turn around and look at him. "With as sympathetic as she's been to you the past couple of days, I think she deserves an apology."

"I think Effie can afford to not be sickeningly happy for one night of her perfect existence," she said.

Tom shook his head. "You were so sweet when you were young…" he said. "What happened?"

Katniss dropped the baking pan that she was cleaning into the sink and turned to look at him with a look of pure astonishment on her face. "Are you _seriously _going to stand there and bemoan all of the ways that _I've _changed for the worse over the years. You _used _to be a good father!"

"I-"

"You took Effie's _nephew _to Grandpa's cabin! We used to go there! That was _our _thing! Am I really that replaceable to you?"

"Katniss…"

"Forget it. I understand," Katniss said, folding her arms over her chest. "You traded in Mom for a new model. Why not your daughters too? Still haven't managed to shake Prim though," Katniss said. "That might be a little harder, especially with her new school being so close to you now…"

"Don't be ridiculous, Katniss," Tom said calmly. "You haven't willingly spoken to me in five years. What would you have done if I asked you to come with me and Cato to Grandpa's cabin? Would you have even picked up the phone?"

"You didn't even try!"

"You don't want me to try," Tom said. "You wanted me to leave you alone. You've made that perfectly clear. I've done nothing but try to give you everything that you've wanted."

"I didn't _want _you to walk out on Mom! I didn't _want _you to abandon your family and marry some vapid trophy wife!"

"I didn't abandon you, Katniss." Katniss scoffed. "I'm standing right in front of you. I live thirty minutes away. I've made it perfectly clear that you're welcome here. In what way have I abandoned you?"

"You _left_!" Katniss yelled. "You packed your bags and left because you got some big shot job and Mom wasn't good enough for you anymore!"

"Your mother and I got a divorce, Katniss. It was mutual, and it was a long time coming."

"That's not how I saw it," Katniss said, shaking her head in denial.

"Well I'm sorry to tell you this, Katniss, but you were twelve years old and you really don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"I-"

"No listen!" Tom said, for the first time the entire night raising his voice over the level of casual speech. "I think I know a little bit more about the failings of my relationship than my teenaged daughter!"

"Oh!" Katniss said, indignantly. "Well please enlighten me then."

"Your mother was jealous of my success and she resented me for it. She never had the drive and ambition to go to medical school and was happy to rot away her life in Stars Hollow as long as I stayed on her level. But I didn't want that! I wanted something better for myself. I wanted something better for you and Prim, and I went out and got it. Your mother refused to support it and I had to get out. If it wasn't for your boarish pride, maybe you would be able to see that, instead of carrying on with this delusion that I set out to ruin your life!"

"Well my _boarish pride_ didn't get in the way when I came here _begging _you for money for Prim's school did it?"

Suddenly Katniss did not feel like talking to her father any longer. She pushed past him and back out into the dining room where Effie and Prim were carrying on with what looked to be a very awkward conversation.

"Sorry, Effie, we need to go," she said.

"But we haven't had dessert-"

"Come on, Prim."

* * *

Katniss was grateful that the traffic leaving Hartford was light as it gave her plenty of time to continually cheat her head to the right and look at Prim. They were almost halfway home now and they had spent their entire drive home in silence. Prim hadn't turned her head away from the passenger seat window and was still playing with the necklace that their father had given her.

"Those steaks _were_ pretty good," Katniss finally said. She glanced back at the road for a few seconds, but by the time she turned to look at her sister again Prim still had not moved her head. "We should tell Mr. Hawthorne. He would be glad."

"Yeah," the blonde agreed, distractedly.

"So…" Katniss tried again. "Last week of Stars Hollow High on Monday. That's exciting."

"Sure."

Katniss sighed and scratched her head. "You heard us didn't you?" Prim simply nodded. "Dad and I weren't fighting because of you, you know. We just… we don't really-"

"How much money was it?" Prim asked, finally turning to face Katniss.

"Ten thousand," Katniss said. Prim's eyes went wide. "Your scholarship is covering the rest."

"I can't believe-"

"Prim," Katniss interrupted. "Don't. You deserve to go to Chilton, no matter what the cost. I want you to get everything you want. I want you to go to Harvard. You're so smart, little duck. You could really do it."

"There's nothing saying that I can't go to Harvard if I stay at Stars Hollow," Prim said. "That's _so _much money, Katniss…"

"You can double – triple your chances of getting in by going to Chilton. They breed Ivy Leaguers there! You deserve to go, and Dad can afford it!"

"You can't!" Prim said. "And you're going to pay him back. I know you are!"

"Don't worry about me," Katniss said. "I'm not that helpless, you know."

Prim smiled. "No…I don't think anyone would say that about you."

"Besides…" she began. "In few years I'll have a rich sister to bail me out." Katniss reached with her elbow across the armrest separating them and playfully nudged her little sisters forearm. Prim giggled. "You wanna stop by Haymitch's on the way home? We might be able to talk him into making use a sundae…"

"No," Prim said, shaking her head. "I'm tired. But you can go. I'll walk home from there."

"You sure?" Katniss asked. "You don't want to top off that steak with a cheeseburger?"

"I'm sure."

* * *

Katniss parked about two blocks away from the diner, effectively splitting hers and Prim's walk in half. To be honest, she would have preferred to just drive home walk to the diner from there. Between the short walk and the fresh air it was helping to clear her head. She might decide to take the long way home.

It was after nine o'clock in the evening and most of Stars Hollow had closed down. The only place that was open at this time of night was Haymitch's diner and the tavern. And if she didn't make it to Haymitch's soon she would surely miss the chance to get some coffee. She doubted that his nephew had forgotten to lock the door this time.

It was a pretty dark night, and if it weren't for the light coming from the tavern windows, Katniss might have taken her phone out to shine the way down the street. As she walked past the bar she could hear the sound of the music emanating from inside. She turned to look in to see what band was playing and did a double take when she saw a familiar face.

Sitting at a table near the window across from a bronze haired young gentleman was Annie. She had a smile on her face and a light beer in her hand. Katniss smiled as she laughed and in a couple seconds Annie looked at the window, making eye contact with her and blushing. The young chef shrugged and Katniss laughed. The bronze headed young man turned around as well, wanting to see what his date was looking at. When he saw Katniss he waved excitedly. She returned the gesture and continued her walk to Haymitch's. She had to say she was happy for them. There were much more crazy things in this world than the prospect of Annie and Finnick together. It was about time he found a girl who put him in his place.

A few steps later she was at Haymitch's, and when she opened the door she was once again remiss to find Haymitch himself.

"Does Haymitch even work here anymore?" Katniss asked as she walked into the diner to once again find him missing. Peeta was sitting on the counter bent over a book.

He closed the book right away and walked around to the other side of the counter to assist her. He hid the book in one of the cabinets and scratched his head, looking between the book and Katniss nervously. "Don't tell him you saw that," he said.

"Wouldn't dream of it, bread boy."

"Bread boy?" Peeta asked.

"That's my new name for you," she answered. "Since you fed me stale bread the other night." Peeta looked confused. "So has God answered Margaret's questions?"

"Wha…what?" Peeta asked.

"_Are You There God, It's Me Margaret_. It's…it's a book. By Judy Blume. It's about…about a girl who gets her period while she's looking for God…well not _looking _really, just thinking about God. And then she buys a bra. It's a whole thing. You're a guy. You wouldn't understand-"

Peeta's eyes narrowed and he scrunched his face in confusion. "I'm not…following…"

Katniss closed her eyes and shook her head. "You were reading. Joke. It was a joke."

"Oh," Peeta said.

"It wasn't….a particularly funny joke," Katniss said softly. An awkward silence fell between them for a moment. Katniss started picking her fingernails. "What _were _you reading?"

"The Great Gatbsy."

"Oh," Katniss said while nodding. "Something light then."

This time Peeta did laugh. "Do you want some coffee?" he asked.

Katniss smiled. "Know me already, huh?"

Peeta chuckled and poured her a cup of coffee. However, before he brought it back to her, he stopped in front of the covered pie plate and cut a slice. He handed it to her along with her drink and she looked up at him in surprise.

"I didn't order pie," she said.

"This one's on the house."

"I would be more flattered," Katniss began. "If I didn't know that Haymitch's pie is the worst pie on the planet."

"Well then it's a good thing that's _not _Haymitch's pie."

Katniss pointed at the apple pastry in front of her and looked up at Peeta with raised eyebrows. "You made this?" she asked, reaching for the fork. Peeta nodded. "Well I guess I _have _to try it then."

Katniss dug her fork into the pie and lifted it up to her mouth. The moment that it hit her tongue she was overcome with a burst of apple cinnamon flavor that was so delicious it made her close her eyes in wonder. "Oh my _God," _she said. "I think I just had a tastegasm."

Peeta laughed again. "Thanks!"

Katniss smiled under Peeta's gleeful eye before cocking her head to the side. "Can I ask you something?"

The smile almost instantly fell off of her new friend's face. "What?" he asked.

"Why are you here?" she asked. "I mean…a week ago every one thought that Haymitch was this toxic loner. Come to find out he has a sister and a nephew out there-"

"Three nephews."

"_Three nephews_," Katniss corrected. "One of which he's taken in out of the goodness of his heart. You see, the name Haymitch Abernathy and the phrase 'out of the goodness of his heart' are rarely used together in the same sentence…"

"My Dad died…" Peeta answered. "And my Mom…she's….well she's not... I've never really been her favorite. I got caught getting high under the bleachers at school and she jumped at the chance to get me out of her life. My brother's aren't old enough to take me in. So it looks like I'll be staying here for a year."

"Just a year?" Katniss asked.

"Until I'm 18."

"And then what?"

"I dunno," Peeta answered with a shrug. "Go to College. Buy a car. Drive around the country. Move to Chicago. Move to Brooklyn. Become an unwashed hipster. The possibilities are endless," Peeta said with a teasing smile. Katniss laughed and placed a hand over her mouth to cover up the pie that she was eating. "Who knows….maybe…if there's a good reason…I might even stay here."

"A good reason to stay in Stars Hollow?" Katniss asked. "Good luck finding that."

"Well what about you?" Peeta asked. "This is the second time this week you've wandered in looking like a three legged puppy."

"I don't really want to talk about it," Katniss said.

"Hey, I told you mine. You tell me yours."

"The short of it," Katniss said. "I kind of hate my Dad. I just had to beg him for money to send my sister to a prep school. And now I have to spend my Friday nights with him for… well probably for the rest of my life – at least it will seem like it…"

"Prim." Peeta said. Katniss gave him a surprised look. She was not sure how he knew who her little sister was. Although considering where she lived perhaps she shouldn't be that surprised after all. "I've heard talk about some girl named Prim going to a genius school."

Katniss nodded and rolled her eyes. "Welcome to Stars Hollow. Where they take all your secrets with a cube of sugar," she mumbled while she poked around at the pie on her plate. "Anyway…my Dad and I kind of had it out tonight. And I really just want… Well…now that you've mentioned it getting high wouldn't be so bad."

Peeta nodded. "Your Dad sounds like a fuckwad," he said. Katniss let out a burst of laugher and beamed up at him.

"Louie, I think this is the beginning of beautiful friendship."

* * *

"You're not bringing a camera crew into my diner, Plutarch!"

"Oh good, a show," Katniss whispered to Prim as they stepped into Haymitch's. The entire diner had gone silent as Haymitch and Plutarch once again had it out at the cash register. Haymitch was pretending to go through a pile of receipts while Plutarch was yammering on, undoubtedly about another one of his projects to boost the tourist appeal of Stars Hollow.

Katniss ushered Prim over to an open table on the right side of the diner, where they would have a perfectly good view of Haymitch and Plutarch's verbal sparring match. She then peeled off her coat and leaned forward on her elbows.

"I really want the advertisement to just scream classic American small town charm!" Plutarch explained. "What's more American – and charming – than an old timey diner?"

"This isn't a old timey diner!" Haymitch yelled, grabbing a pitcher of coffee and refilling everyone's mugs. Plutarch hurrily scuttled after him.

"Well, you see, I had a few ideas about that too. We could bring in a juke box – or better yet a barber shop quartet, serve black cows-"

"I'm not having a barber shop quartet in my diner, Plutarch!"

"Of course…" Plutarch said contemplatively. "If we _did _do it, we might want to spruce the place up a bit. You could really stand to paint the place…"

"I'm not painting the place! I'm not getting a juke box, and I'm _not _participating in your stupid tourist advertisement. Now either order breakfast, or get the hell out of my diner!" Haymitch stormed off, leaving the heavy set and bearded older gentleman standing there aghast.

"Well, there's no need to be rude, Haymitch," he said. "I'll just take my business elsewhere."

As soon as Plutarch had gone, Haymitch had reappeared in front of Katniss and Prim, notepad in hand. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Just some coffee for me," Katniss answered.

"Pancakes!" Prim said. Haymitch looked up from his pad for a moment, about to lecture her on her diet choice. However, he stopped when he noticed that Prim was wearing her Chilton uniform for the very first time. "We're celebrating!" Prim said.

At this, Haymitch gave a nod and Katniss even saw the smallest trace of a smile on his lips.

"I'll put some chocolate chips in them," he replied. Prim beamed, and even Katniss had to smile at that.

"Haymitch, you old softie," she said. Haymitch did not acknowledge her.

"But no whipped cream," he added.

"Deal."

"Missed you!" Katniss yelled after Haymitch as he walked away from them. He waved a hand at her in dismissal and Katniss smirked. She watched Haymitch disappear behind the checkered curtain the blocked the view of the kitchen from the counter. As soon as he walked in, a blond haired boy walked out. He waved at her. Katniss smiled shyly and waved back before turning her attention to her younger sister.

"Are you excited for your first day?" Katniss asked.

Prim shrugged. "I'm kinda nervous," she said.

"I think that's normal,"

A few moments later, Haymitch had brought Katniss her coffee along with Prim's special chocolate chip pancakes. He set the plate down in front of the younger girl and Prim immediately started digging in.

"I should make you run around the block after you eat these."

Katniss rolled her eyes. "Haymitch Abernathy…fighting obesity one tiny blond teenager at a time."

He grumbled and walked away. Katniss was glad to know that in the couple of weeks that she had not seen him he had managed to stay the same. The presence of his nephew in his establishment hadn't tarnished his special brand of melancholy. She liked to know that at least some things would always be the same.

"Delly is outside," Prim said, gesturing to her friend who was waving at them from across the street. Katniss turned to the window and waved back.

"You should go talk to her," she said.

"I don't want to leave you," Prim replied.

"Don't worry about me. I've got Haymitch to keep my company."

Prim bounced out of the diner and watched as she and her friend jumped up and down with excitement while they both admired her uniform. Of course Katniss was kidding before. Haymitch wouldn't stop to keep her company even if he did have the time. However the truth of the matter was that she was going to have to get used to spending much more of her time alone now that Prim was at Chilton.

"You look chipper this morning," a voice said, tearing her attention away from her sister and the other girl. When Katniss turned around, she found Peeta standing in front of her hiding something behind his back.

"So you do," Katniss replied. However, she, unlike Peeta, was actually being serious. She was taken aback when Peeta grabbed the chair that Prim had been sitting in and sat down in it himself, scooting closer to her as he did.

"I have something for you," he said with a smile.

"Oh?" Katniss asked.

"Yeah."

She watched as Peeta pulled out a gray embroidered sweatshirt from behind his back and handed it to her. Her eyes portrayed her confusion as she took the gift from him and silently asked what the hell it was for.

"It's a sweatshirt!" he said. "Look at it."

Katniss did just that. She unfolded the heavy fabric and smiled when she saw what had been sewn into the front. In blue stitching across the chest were the words 'Chilton Mom' and underneath them was the school crest. All in all it made for the tackiest sweatshirt that she had ever seen.

"You can't properly support your sister without wearing an embarrassing sweatshirt at her expense…" he explained.

Katniss laughed. "Thanks," she said. "My mom will love it."

Peeta looked confused. "It's not for your mom. It's for you."

"Um…"

"You're more of a Mom to your sister than she is," he explained. "You should get the ugly sweatshirt."

Katniss nodded. "Thanks," she said shyly. She was never one to react well to unexpected praise.

"One bill…" Haymitch said as he walked over to her table and slammed down the check. "One employee sitting at a table…"

"Sorry," Peeta said, standing up. Haymitch didn't respond. He simply started walking around the diner, refilling coffee mugs. "I'll see you around, Katniss."

"Thanks for the sweatshirt," she said. "See ya."

Lifting her mug up to her face, she inhaled her favorite scent in the world. Between the smell of her coffee, her sister's happiness, and the gift that she had received, this day was not panning out to be as bad as she thought it would have been. She would be lying if she said that she still wasn't nervous about her sister leaving her behind. She would miss walking to school with Prim everyday and being able to go out on weekends, not having to worry about her huge work load or her commute to Hartford. Right now though, it didn't seem like it would be so bad.

She watched Peeta walk around the diner smiling at the citizens that she had come to know as her second family over the years. When he kept looking over his notepad and smiling at her, she couldn't help but feel like maybe life in Stars Hollow wasn't going to be as lonely as she thought.


End file.
